UK

Bile Beans Part 2

Although I’ve been aware of this Bile Beans sign for some time I was struck by Andy Johnson‘s picture seen here as it really highlights the brightness of the sign versus the surrounding area.It has been tinkered with slightly but provides an insight into how much the original signs must have stood out against an […]

30 May 2008

University College Falmouth

Last week I went to give a talk to the future copy writers and art directors on the University College Falmouth MA Creative Advertising.  This is a well respected course with graduates typically getting recruited into the creative departments of some of the best advertising agencies in the world. Thank you to Carolyn and Chris […]

26 Apr 2008

Bovril Update

Alex sent me this photo of the remnants of a Bovril sign in the Redhill area. In much the same way as the Ekco sign that Duncan sent me, this sign appears to have been revealed during some recent construction work involving the demolition of the adjacent building or extension. This is a huge factor […]

26 Apr 2008

Leicester Ghost Signs

Browsing some of the vast and ever growing collection of photos in the Flickr Ghost Signs pool I came across a nice collection taken by Amy Jane Barnes in Leicester. Here are three of my favourites. Thank you to Amy for letting me feature them on the site and do visit her ongoing photo-a-day project […]

4 Apr 2008

Jack Daniel’s (Brighton)

Following my uncle’s discoveries in Newcastle I spotted two more Jack Daniel’s faux Ghost Signs on my Bank holiday visit to Brighton. The one on the white background is right there as soon as you come out of the station and the one on the red background is on the road that goes to Hove. […]

25 Mar 2008

Ghost Signs Received (UK)

Having been fairly busy over the last few months at work and on my course I’ve only been making the occasional posts of things that people have sent to me. What has resulted is a slight backlog of pictures and so these posts will pull these together along geographic lines (London, UK, Europe and USA). […]

11 Mar 2008

Faded London

If you like the sort of stuff found on this blog you will certainly also be interested in the work of Yelfy over at Faded London.  This features some excellent examples of Ghost Signs, many from South London which is clearly my weak spot along with West London (funny that, living in North East!). The […]

4 Feb 2008

Jack Daniel’s

Some time ago now my uncle sent me two photos he took while visiting Newcastle (see below). These show Jack Daniel’s reviving the hand painted advertising medium by using a stencil to replicate the label design on walls across the city.  Comparing the two signs reveals that they are stencilled, most probably they did a […]

18 Jan 2008

Bovril & Greys

Andy sent me this great double sign from Bedford in response to my appeal for world record contenders.  Although it isn’t a multitude of signs, the quality of preservation is exceptional. Either they’ve been retouched or they have been preserved by a billboard/adjacent building. redgrittybrick says of the Greys signs: ” I believe the “Greys” […]

19 Oct 2007

Lambeth Council

Following the recent painting over of the Clapham North ‘Music Rolls‘ sign, Ocky got in touch with Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall to ask her what Lambeth Council are doing to preserve this signs. The response from Michael Copeman, via Councillor Peck, was as follows: Dear Kate   Keith put exactly the same enquiry about […]

4 Oct 2007

Ariel Bikes

This sign from Kennington in south London was spotted by Steve and I photographed it soon after. It’s right beside a library which makes it difficult to get a square shot. It is a mystery why it says “Writers” across the bottom and also interesting that the top left of the sign has completely gone.Ariel […]

21 Sep 2007

Redfern’s Rubber Heels

Renovations on Islington property reveal a ghost sign for Redfern’s Rubber Heels after stripping back the paint of another ghost sign and partial whitewash.

14 Sep 2007

Redferns (RIP?)

These great brickads were protected for many years by a couple of billboards, although they weren’t entirely covered.  This meant that some of the outer edges were lost to weathering, cleaning and sandblasting. I must have got lucky that Chris told me about them as when I went to get a better photo on Saturday […]

7 Aug 2007

Gramophones Records (RIP)

I am informed by sarflondondunc that this ghost sign has been erased.  It was just by Clapham North Station and I used it in my recent presentation as an example of a plain text sign which has been designed to fit around the available wall space. It was visible from both the nearby train line […]

2 Aug 2007

Southborough Butchers

Driving back to London from a wedding this weekend I pulled over in Southborough to take a picture of this sign. It’s obviously been maintained and I like the effect used on the corners.  Like the Vaneers ad it features an old style phone number, this one for Tunbridge Wells 529 757. However, my favourite […]

30 Jul 2007

John Brown’s Whiskies

Yesterday I hopped on the bike and went out to follow up some leads given to me by friends. On my way to the first sign, the great Spitalfields Gillette, I went past three or four in the same area that I hadn’t expected to see.  This is generally the nature of ‘hunting’, that new […]

22 Jul 2007

Guinness & John Gilroy

One way in which brickads are revealed is when an adjoining building is demolished. The standard of preservation in these cases is often emaculate, as the sign has been protected from the elements and sandblasters.  This example from Cardiff in the long running Guinness campaign is in fantastic condition and the question is whether it […]

19 Jul 2007

Fading Signs

This sign on Sidmouth Street in Central London is an excellent example of palimpsest and also featured in Time Out’s original article on disappearing London. However, this particular photo offers a dramatic illustration of the effects of weathering on brickads. It can clearly be seen from the shadow cast by the sun that the top […]

16 Jul 2007

Brymay Palimpsest

I went to meet Sebastian Groes today as we’re doing a presentation at the University of Westminster next week. On my way there I passed this sign in Haringey, designed to be clearly visible from the train tracks. There are two signs fighting for attention, one from the classic blue and yellow Brymay Matches campaign […]

11 Jul 2007

MOT Tyres (RIP)

This old landmark at the Regent’s Park end of Parkway in Camden has recently been pulled down to make way for a couple of new illuminated poster sites.  I wouldn’t rate it as a classic sign but there was something about the slighty haphazard lettering that appealed. Even the lettering on the shop below was […]

11 Jul 2007

Boots (Past & Present)

Boots – Camden High Street. While browsing some of the excellent Ghost Signs on Flickr I came across this picture by 2WArmy. I think it’s great compared to my photo so wanted to share it. Look at how the detail in the brick has come out and also the detail of the lettering. Having another […]

10 Jul 2007

Peterkin Mystery

This classic sign for Peterkin’s Custard, Self-Raising Flour and Corn Flour can be seen on St John’s Hill near Clapham Junction Station. See a bigger picture here. The sign was first brought to my attention by Nicola via the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising.  She was interested in the company and what happened to […]

4 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs UK Video

Inspired by JDProductions’ Ghost Signs video I had to have a go myself. Here’s my first effort featuring “Loving Love” by Patsy Todd and 14 of my favourite signs from around London. It was made using MemoriesOnTV software. What fun, more to come! Also see the Only Fools & Horses video with a collection of […]

3 Jul 2007

Gillette Palimpsest 2

Here’s another example from the Gillette campaign where there are three signs revealed on one site (palimpsest) in Dalston: Gillette across the middle; Cafe vertically on the right; Sunday… on the diagonal in the top left. There are probably even more but these are the most prominent.

2 Jul 2007